Six Driving Forces of Change That Will Shape 2019 and Beyond

In recent weeks, global uncertainty has reached its highest level in more than twenty years. This is according to tracking data from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business and Stanford University.

My advice, don't get side-tracked watching the play-by-play. As a future trends expert and innovation speaker, I suggest taking the broader view. Refuse to let near-term volatility distract you from paying attention to important signals of change. And redouble efforts to mobilize yourself and your team to respond to other deep-seated macro-trends that have the power to spell "boom" or "doom" for your business depending on how you navigate them.

In reviewing the top macro-trends that will most likely shape 2019, the uncertain economy, government shutdown and geopolitical environment (tariff wars) are right up there. But they are not the only developments to monitor. In this VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) businesses and their leaders will rise or fall based on their ability to anticipate and creatively respond to a range of rapid changes.

Here are six key directions to consider as you manage the future of your career and business:

Driving Force 1: The war for talent will heat up

When polled, CEOs acknowledge their growth is now being impacted by not only uncertainty, but by workforce management challenges. The "War For Talent" will demand increased attention moving forward. Manifestations of this mega-trend are showing up everywhere: positions that cannot be filled, applicants that lack the necessary skills, and a decline in employee engagement and work ethic. Meanwhile, experienced workers -- aging Boomers for the most part -- are retiring at the rate of 10,000 a day and taking their knowledge with them. Result: talent competition will be a defining trend going forward, even if the economy softens. Smart firms will revamp and rethink recruitment, on-boarding, hiring, wages, culture and retention strategies for competitive advantage.

Driving Force 2. Millennials are now the dominant generational cohort. Get ready for Generation Z.

Not only are they the majority generation (92 million members) in the workplace, Millennials are the driving demographic cohort in the marketplace, eclipsing Generation X and Boomers in buying power, economic influence, and political clout. The oldest Millennials are in their mid-30s and moving forward fast: getting married, starting families, founding startups, buying houses, investing for retirement, and paying off those burdensome student loans. Millennials are ethnically and racially diverse, open-minded, and tech-savvy. They are not just cutting the cord to cable television, but to businesses, brands, and workplaces that are unresponsive to their needs. With the unemployment rate at a 49 year low, look for higher rates of job-jumping in 2019, as Millennials seek better pay and career advancement.

Driving Force 3: The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a Disruptive Game Changer. Here's how to go from lagging to leading Industry 4.0.

Digital disruption has already reordered the playing field in industries ranging from college textbook publishing to cable television to advertising. But the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) is an even higher magnitude Driving Force of Change still in its infancy. The first three industrial revolutions promulgated steam power, electrification, mass production and early electronics. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) is about the acceleration brought on by 50 years of Moore's Law (a doubling of capacity every 18 - 24 months). It is also about the convergence of an array of technological innovations, from the Industrial Internet of things to virtual reality to drones to artificial intelligence, to biotechnology and beyond. To profit from 4.0, businesses and their leaders will need to think ahead of the curve, and revamp the way they do strategic planning and create cultures of innovation. Nothing less will keep up.

Driving Force 4. In the Age of Amazon, offering Real Time Convenience is becoming table stakes for staying in the game. Here's how to benchmark your firm, and innovate convenience innovations.

Amazon's Same Day Delivery service and its artificial intelligence-based Anticipatory Shipping program are examples of real time convenience innovations now transforming consumer and B to B buyer expectations across industries. Businesses that are mired in "the way we've always done things around here" will falter. But those that treat this Driving Force seriously and think ahead of the curve will win. Among my recommendations for capitalizing on this driving force: challenge time-based assumptions. Seek to eliminate customer waiting, friction, cumbersome forms and procedures, whether online, in-store or over time. Look for the Amazon Effect to impact more and more industries, and be prepared to lead your firm in pioneering convenience advances while there's still time.

Driving Force 5. Artificial Intelligence has entered the age of implementation.

All technologies go through a period of development before they go to a period of application. How might we take advantage? How might competitors gain advantage by moving first with this trend? Examples: Real estate broker Coldwell Banker is experimenting with A.I. to target classes of likely buyers for a specific property. Fidelity is finding ways to apply artificial intelligence, computer algorithms, and voice recognition software to the hidebound world of money management and investing. Every technology goes through the Discovery Phase then enters the Implementation Phase. This is where the action will be in 2019 and beyond: forward thinking firms will begin to automate routine office tasks like accounting and billing, but then seizing the larger opportunities: looking across your entire enterprise, and using A.I. to enhance customer experience, get better at sensing demand trends, automate machines, and serve customers in new ways.

Driving Force 6. Social Media is heightening decline of social distrust. Here's how to manage this trend in your business and career.

Research shows that "social trust" has been in decline since 1972, when research began. But social media has accelerated this decline, as well as rogue businesses.

Wells Fargo employees, under pressure to meet sales goals, created two million phony accounts, charged improper and unauthorized fees, and withdrew money from customers’ accounts. A data breach at Equifax caused the release of sensitive personal information on 143 million Americans. Volkswagen was fined $30 billion for cheating on emissions requirements. It doesn't take a clairvoyant to see that trust will be a huge issue going forward, as Millennials, among others, begin to distrust entire industries (financial services, car rental, etc.) and make consumer decisions accordingly.

Question: how can you and your organization turn this Driving Force to advantage? How can you verify and insure trust, in customer data, privacy, employee confidentiality, etc.? Example: Uber and Lyft not only enable customers to rate their driver (and experience), but drivers get to rate passengers, for mutual trust enhancement.

Robert B. Tucker is a keynote speaker and consultant to over 200 of the Fortune 500. He's written seven bestselling books on innovation, including the latest, Innovation is Everybody's Business.

I’m president of Innovation Resource Consulting Group, based in Santa Barbara, California, and an internationally recognized thought leader in the field of innovation and leadership development. I help organizations seeking to improve top and bottom line performance via wha...